hello sudoers,
I learnt about this movement called Open Hackerspace Day which I believe is initiated by the CCC. It in the last Saturday of March (3/28). We have open house events quite often but is anyone interested in dong something?
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/International_Open_Hackerspace_Day
Best,
michaelz
Dear Members and Comrades of SudoRoom,
For those who see free software as a movement, not just a hobby. I am organizing a local chapter of the Beyond40 caucus. For 40 years the FSF has been consistently advocating for computer users' freedom. We seek to carry on that torch by organizing local chapters that make Free Software practical, helping ordinary people break free from Big Tech lock-in. By doing "spadework" such as connecting members of FOSS and adjacent community, helping organizations migrate and supporting FOSS developers, we can elevate the cause by building out the social and technical infrastructure for the free software movement at the grassroots level.
You can learn more about our vision and roadmap on our website.
https://beyond40.codeberg.page/about/https://beyond40.codeberg.page/blog/roadmap/
To see out latest updates and activities, check out our mastodon:
https://fosstodon.org/@freesoftwarecaucus
If you are interested, please fill out the form below or reply via email/signal <https://signal.me/#eu/YDiwsCTef_vFzgjuJANxEhSKI4-4PimMH9Tpq5F3xcgT9bk7oDlPR…> so I can add you to the group chat. We welcome people from all backgrounds.
https://my.liberaforms.org/beyond40-onboarding
Best,
michaelz
sudo friends -
I have a couple of projects in mind that build on sensitive (microkelvin
resolution) electronic temperature measurement and recording.
I got some AdaFruit Ultra Thin 10K thermistors
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4890
To complete the picture, by scratch-building a delta-sigma ADC with an FPGA,
I have worked up a Mouser shopping list
10 595-OPA1662AIDR $1.52 TI OPA1662D dual op-amp in SOIC8 1.27 mm pitch
20 595-74LVC2G17DCKTE4 $1.29 TI SN74LVC2G17 dual 5V driver in SC70 0.65 mm pitch
10 863-NCP731ADNADJR2G $1.21 onsemi NCP731 low-noise LDO in MSOP8 0.65 mm pitch
I pine for the days when everything came in a DIP package for easy protoboard use.
Now I will also need to scrounge up adapters, some of which I find on eBay.
Also a bunch of of passives.
If you (a) already know of stuff like this in sudo room or nearby, or
(b) have items you'd like to piggy-back on my Mouser order,
please let me know (here or DM).
Of course I'd love to share ideas and progress with y'all, on-line or especially in-person.
I plan to come in Tuesday night this week, but have a conflict for
Wed (radio night).
- Larry
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Folk Tech <folktech(a)calendar.luma-mail.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Subject: Folk Tech Showcase, accessibility insights, and more!
To: <typeinthenumber(a)gmail.com>
Hi Folks! It was amazing to meet some of you this week at the ATmosphere
conference! It felt to me…
<https://o.lu.ma/agLoMBrsAu>
Folk Tech
<https://o.lu.ma/agLoMBrsAu>
Folk Tech Showcase, accessibility insights, and more!
Hi Folks!
It was amazing to meet some of you this week at the *ATmosphere conference!*
It felt to me like there are a lot of really on-vibe people in the
ecosystem, even if the actual Folk Tech aspects are still somewhat of a
work in progress. If you were there, let me know how you it landed for you.
In April, *we'll be hosting a showcase of Folk Tech-aligned projects*. We
could definitely use a couple of volunteers to help with the virtual rooms
set-up and to help hold the space. If you're up to help, please let me know
<https://o.lu.ma/L1tE0J6bpE>.
Submit your project!
You can submit a project to showcase here <https://o.lu.ma/Ik2mMyiAtf>. The
projects don't need to be digital or finished, just aligned with the Folk
Tech principles. What a great opportunity to find collaborators,
cross-pollinate ideas, and find some new tools to play with.
Excited to see these cool projects? Register to attend!
Register Here! <https://o.lu.ma/XNjUVTMPT3>
[image: Image]March Folk Tech: Accessibility
Last time, we had a great conversation about accessibility.
*Some conversation highlights:*
-
Walled gardens often reduce interoperability and cause accessibility
issues when different systems can't talk to each other. As Matthew said,
"these systems weren't designed to let you connect the different parts of
your life, they were designed to connect you with their services (and
surveillance)."
-
ADHD brains often thrive on pattern-matching, so apps that offer
gamified experiences can be of particular value to some neurodivergent
folks - and can also become traps when incentives are profit, not people's
welfare.
-
FOSS can rely on a "leisure tech class," aka people with spare time,
which isn't a durable foundation.
-
Ideas for funding accessibility included making data access a legal
right (similar to copyright exceptions), fiscal hosting through tools like
Open Collective, and separating need-signaling from funding so communities
can express what they need without it being tied directly to who has money.
-
Accessibility could be a part of all education, so that it's not seen as
a "specialised" thing just for designers
-
There's a perceived tension between designing for the most people versus
designing for the most profit.
*Watch the interview with Eric Bailey here. <https://o.lu.ma/mVsDL18fav>*
Would you like to be part of a *Folk Tech designers working group*? We will
start to think about ways to directly impact projects in the ecosystem that
we think can help our communities take ownership of their collective. You
don't need to be a "professional designer" but experience working on
experience design and front-end development would be great.* Sign up here.
<https://o.lu.ma/TXqu5GyjGu>*
See you soon! LX
<https://o.lu.ma/nd6NJkaoxt>
<https://o.lu.ma/gtAUUoavKB>
<https://o.lu.ma/Oq4bQYrbVt>
<https://o.lu.ma/snTNIwC8Go>
<https://o.lu.ma/dGLvg1cEFa>
Unsubscribe from Folk Tech <https://o.lu.ma/g42DY93zoH>
Hi Sudoers:
Do we want the Tuesday April 21 Hardware Hack Night & Fixit Clinic
cross-listed on the SF Climate Week events calendar?
https://climateweeknetwork.org/sfcw-26/events
It might be a good way to attract people and raise awareness of Sudoroom
overall.
Maybe we could list the week before (Tuesday April 14) as well?
Sincerely, -Peter
P.S.: Also: note that I’m on a panel Weds April 22 at frog in SF:
https://luma.com/hb7ydlxs
Hello SudoRoom!
I used to be a member when I lived in Oakland, but I ended up moving out to
the Sacramento area many years ago.
I have a discussion idea that I wanted to run by you fine folks...
We (as Californians) currently have the California Consumer Privacy Act in
place, which definitely helps support some consumer protections, but I
don't think it requires data to be stored and processed locally within the
state.
Do you think Californians would benefit from additional data-locality
requirements?
If so, do you think it would be worth attempting to push for GDPR style
protections or a similar objective as a CA ballot initiative?
My thoughts were that such an initiative could potentially add protections
for consumers while encouraging certain categories of tech work to be
conducted locally within the state.
Now, I'm not sure if I actually have the time or energy to follow up on
this idea, but I thought this group might be able to help me figure out if
it was worth pursuing.
I miss seeing you folks very much, and I hope you're doing well out there!
<3
RyanJ
Hi all,
Some East-Bay activists recently asked me if we could build a change
detection system for the Oakland City council website.
As it is, activists have to spend tons of time and be super vigilant,
because agenda items and even whole meetings can be rescheduled at the last
minute, making it difficult to show up for public comment, etc. With an
automated change detection system, they could save a lot of effort watching
the city website and scrolling through PDFs and a lot more on organizing.
Is anyone interested in doing this work? I am, but I'm kinda intimidated
and would love to work together with someone.
Thanks,
--Elaine
Friends -
People keep reacting positively when I suggest putting together an FPGA class.
Angela, did you ever get something to work on the FOMU?
David and I made some progress doing a TTL logic demo on March 2.
We could try again this week. My schedule is pretty flexible.
David, do you have plans to come in? Maybe Judy and/or Arik can join us.
- Larry
next week is the fourth thursday of the month, which means it's party
time!!!
https://sudoroom.org/events/sudo-party-2026-03-26/
starting at 7pm and going on til we drop!
we've resurrected the ancient (pre-2020) tradition of the sudo party, now
happening once a month all this year (and beyond?!)! the january one saw a
badass charcuterie board and hacking on the Mac SE by someone who is
younger than it. the february sudo party was super last-minute but was a
smashing success with Arik bringing hella popcorn to eat, video games
(killer queen is awesome!!!!!!), and board games! ask him about 3d printing
blokus parts.
we need yall to make the march sudo party even better! want to bring food?
drinks? snacks? games of all kinds? let me know! or just bring yourself and
let's have a great time!
<3
~judy
